Actions Speak Louder Than Words? The Untapped Potential of V4 Parliaments in EU Affairs

2021 ◽  
pp. 088832542110127
Author(s):  
Karolina Borońska-Hryniewiecka ◽  
Jan Grinc
Keyword(s):  
Early Warning System ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Veto Players ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Dialogue ◽  
Eu Policy ◽  
Green Card ◽  
Policy Ideas ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
The Eu

This article offers the first ever comparative analysis of the involvement of V4 parliaments in the sphere of European Union (EU) affairs. Its underlying research objective is to determine what conditions V4’s parliamentary participation in various EU-oriented activities such as domestic scrutiny of the government’s EU policy, the political dialogue with the Commission, the Early Warning System for subsidiarity control, and the green card initiative. Based on the actual scrutiny output, parliamentary minutes, and data from questionnaires, we address the questions: (1) To what extent domestic legislatures act as autonomous as opposed to government-supporting actors in these arenas? (2) Do they mostly act as EU veto players, or try to contribute constructively to the EU policy-making process by bringing alternative policy ideas? (3) What are their motivations for engaging in direct dialogue with EU institutions in addition to domestic scrutiny? and (4) How MPs envisage their own EU-oriented roles? While the article reveals that V4 parliaments mostly act as gatekeepers in the sphere of EU affairs, it also casts a new light on the previous literature findings related to the EU-oriented performance of the Czech and Polish lower chambers. We conclude that, generally, V4 parliaments refrain from fully exploiting their relatively strong formal prerogatives in EU affairs—a fact that can be partly explained by the composition of their ruling majorities.

From Veto Players to Agenda-Setters?

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Fasone ◽  
Diane Fromage
Keyword(s):  
Warning System ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
Veto Players ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Parliaments ◽  
Political Dialogue ◽  
Green Card ◽  
Agenda Setter ◽  
Legislative Proposals ◽  
The Eu

National parliaments (NPs) had long been excluded from the European integration process and were in many Member States at best kept informed and rarely involved in daily EU affairs. With the Lisbon Treaty and its introduction of the Early Warning System (EWS), as well as the Political Dialogue initiated by former Commission President Barroso, NPs have now become full actors in the EU. Through the Political Dialogue, they can express their opinion on the Commission Annual Work Programme and influence the Commission's agenda. Now, through control of the respect of the principle of subsidiarity, and provided that their reasoned opinions attain the defined thresholds, they can potentially strike down an existing proposal. However the EWS leads to NPs still being constrained to a limited, reactive role: as ‘quasi veto-players' and not one of ‘agenda-setter’. Recent developments in favour of the introduction of a ‘green card’ would change this situation profoundly as NPs would eventually be able to prompt the Commission to make legislative proposals on their behalf. This article sheds light on the evolving role of NPs in EU policymaking from the Lisbon Treaty onwards, from veto players to proactive institutions committed to the good functioning of the EU.

scholarly journals Subsidiarity: Bridging the gap between the ideal and reality

European View ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinhold Lopatka
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Dialogue ◽  
Green Card ◽  
Eu Legislation ◽  
Local Stakeholders ◽  
The Eu ◽  
The Ideal

There is no alternative to the megaproject we call the ‘European Union’. But it could be brought much closer to the citizens of Europe by putting the principles of subsidiarity into effect in more practical ways. This requires greater involvement by national, regional and local stakeholders. Subsidiarity means less Europe where EU-level action would not add value, but more Europe where we need Europe-wide efforts. The new Austrian government wants to shape the EU in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity. What can be done? How can national, regional and local authorities play a greater role in the legislative process? It would help if the member states could be given more time to examine whether new proposals for EU legislation conform to the principle of subsidiarity. This would mean extending the eight-week period that is currently allotted for carrying out these examinations. Directives should be preferred over regulations, and the use of delegated acts should be restricted. A ‘Green Card’ procedure could expand the political dialogue aimed at initiating new EU legislation. And efforts to improve EU legislation linked to subsidiarity should focus on reducing overregulation and bridging the gap between the ideal and the real.

From One-Stop Graft to Costly Corruption Webs: Democratisation and Shifting Patterns of Corruption in Korea

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 635-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C. Schopf
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Veto Players ◽  
Objective Measures ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Opposition ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
One Stop ◽  
The Web

Abstract Democratisation has brought a new, riskier pattern of corruption to Korea. More groups and institutions have secured a role in a more inclusive democratic policy making process. As a result, corruption schemes now require the consent of a wide and diverse set of veto players, often including the political opposition, producing expansive democratic ‘corruption webs’. The key democratic element of competition for votes rewards opposition members in the web for blowing the whistle. Increased likelihood of exposure and punishment deter many from corruption, which has subsequently declined in Korea under democracy, as measured by perception polls, experience surveys and objective measures of elite rent exchange. The Roh Moo-hyeon NACF scandals demonstrate that democratic corruption webs also mitigate damage from scandals — forcing participants to limit rent exchange to minimise exposure to clean veto players. Democratic oversight ensures that even bribe-taking officials implement policy according to publicly-declared objectives. Finally, competition for votes encourages timely exposure of democratic corruption rackets.

The Neglected Tradition? – The Genesis of the EU Seal Products Trade Ban and Commercial Sealing

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 417-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolas Sellheim
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
The Political ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The European Union’s ban on the placing on the market of seal products stemming from commercially hunted seals has triggered much controversy due to its negative impacts on Arctic livelihoods. This article looks at the different documents and steps that constitute the crafting process which has led to the adoption of Regulation 1007/2009 on trade in seal products. It puts special emphasis on the degree of recognition of commercial sealing as a livelihood and asks if it is a tradition that may have been neglected by the political discourse in the EU. Also the role of antisealing groups is considered that may have contributed to a pre-determined stance on the commercial seal hunt during the policy-making process.

Dezintegracja, konsolidacja czy status quo? Kryzys modernizacji w Unii Europejskiej a poszukiwanie nowego paradygmatu integracji

2015 ◽  
pp. 26-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamil Ławniczak
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Political ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Eu Governance ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
The Eu

“Taking ideas seriously” means not only to consider their causal and constitutive role in the study of social phenomena, but also to analyse how and why certain ideas gain or lose prominence within political institutions and discourses. One approach to these issues builds upon the notion of policy paradigms, which influence the results of policy-making process by shaping the political actors’ understanding of problems that need to be solved and limiting available policy options. This article attempts to show how the ability to modernise the EU governance within the paradigm of European integration heading towards “an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe” has been called into question by the crisis which began in 2008. Two potential new paradigms of integration are considered: first one suggests controlled disintegration and differentiation of EU structures, second one proposes a reinterpretation of federalism as a way to reconsolidate the Union.

North Atlantic Early Warning (Naεw) Εvolution in Maјor Сonflicts

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-97
Author(s):  
Mihai Iordache
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Early Warning System ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Global Environment ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Security ◽  
Security Environment ◽  
Air Space

Abstract The security of the regional and global environment is an issue of major concern for the political and military deciding factors, especially in the current security environment marked by profound and surprising changes at geopolitical and geostrategical level. In the early 1970s, different studies of NATO indicated that a system of airborne early warning (AEW) would considerably increase the defense of the air space of the Alliance. The Committee of Planning Defense of NATO (СΡD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the acquisition and operational use of an Airborne Early Warning system. The Airbornе Warning & Сontrol Systеm (AWAСS) is a developed and well-organized system, which can be permanently improved and adapted to the present realities generated by the dynamics of regional and global security. The paper presents its evolution and benefits

scholarly journals Introduction: Italy in the EU—pigmy or giant?

Modern Italy ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Fabbrini ◽  
Simona Piattoni
Keyword(s):  
Member State ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
European Policy ◽  
Eu Policy ◽  
Introductory Article ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
The Eu

SummaryThis introductory article discusses the circumstances under which Italy manages to forge ‘national preferences’ and push them through the European policy-making process. Drawing from the analysis of several policy areas, it concludes that Italy plays a major policy-making role, particularly when it acts as mediator between large countries and small- and medium-sized ones, and when it argues its case according to policy- and EU-appropriate logics. While Italy may not have it ‘its way’ all the time (as no member-state does), it still manages to influence the EU policy-making process more frequently and more significantly than the literature has so far conceded.

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